Somewhere between the laughter, art and coffee
by thesewomenrulemyworld
Summary: Regina works too hard on finding the Author. Emma thinks they both could use a break. Includes leaving Storybrooke for a day, road trip, art and coffee.


"We should take a break, Regina-" Emma said, her voice velvety low, laced with worry and exhaustion.  
"From what? Dead end after dead end?" Regina deadpanned bitterly and raised her eyebrow in question.

"You've been working hard, maybe we should try to get your mind off things?" Emma suggested in hopeful tone. And she could see Regina actually pause and she could see she was thinking about it, because she was just as exhausted as Emma felt, or maybe more. Emma didn't remember a time when Regina would come to the office later than her, or leave it at night by her side. Emma wasn't sure if Regina slept at all.

"Just today," Regina nodded and Emma could see she was disappointed with herself, for not succeeding, for having to take a break.

"Great! Let's go," Emma pointed towards the door of the office with enthusiasm Regina found quite catching, because she felt a smile tugging at her lips in nearly no time. She rose from her seat and took her sweet time with gathering her purse, stuffing essentials into it while walking towards Emma.

"Could you hurry up Your Majesty?" Emma teased and stepped out towards the door, missing Regina's eye-roll behind her.

"Of course, Miss Swan. Where are we going?" Regina asked as she took a few longer paces to catch up with Emma. The blonde side-eyed her with a mysterious smile.

"It's a surprise."

"Does it include your joke of a car?" Regina asked, mockingly adding a horrified tone to her voice as she saw the Bug appearing behind the corner and the two of them clearly heading towards it.

"Well since you can't drive to a secret destination and I highly doubt you would let me drive your car-just get in Regina!" Emma grumbled as she opened the door for herself and slipped in, Regina closely following.

"Are we going to pick up Henry?" Regina asked after the engine was humming somehow harmonically and Emma pulled them on the road.

"Nope. My parents are taking care of him the whole day," Emma shook her head but kept her eyes on the road.

"But we are not doing anything, we could take him with us-" Regina protested, but Emma jumped in quickly.

"How can you know it would be appropriate idea of fun for him?" she asked and this time sneaked a glance at Regina who shrugged with one shoulder, allowing: "Good point."

There was a silence for a while, a comfortable one, until Regina couldn't stop herself any longer.

"Will you tell me where we are heading? It looks like we'll be going past the town line soon."  
"Good observation," Emma smirked, but stayed secretive. "We are going for a little trip."

Regina hummed in answer and focused her gaze out of the window, getting lost in the sight of trees quickly passing by, trying to forget the heavy burden of finding the Author – without success.

"You know what a road trip needs? Songs." Emma smiled at Regina, wanting to cheer her up, and she switched on the radio, waiting before the cracking formed into actual music.

First lyrics of Learning to Fly by Tom Petty filled the tiny car, and Emma noticed that Regina immediately started tapping with her foot and smiling a little. So operation Make Her Smile was a success. Baby steps were the key.

* * *

Emma parked the car and stumbled out, shaking her head with a smile when she saw Regina getting out of her Bug with the poise and composure of a queen – indeed, she smirked when Regina's Evil Queen voice resonated through her head.

"This way," Emma pointed to her left, but first she let Regina look around and upwards on the skyscrapers and then it hit her. She waited until Regina walked by her side, hiding her astonishment by trying to maintain casual expression the whole time, but failing at the smallest moments that Emma didn't miss.

"Have you ever been outside of Storybrooke?" she asked, secretly watching the brunette every now and then and enjoying the little moments when Regina's mask would slip.

"Only when getting Henry," Regina admitted without looking at Emma. "I couldn't leave, you know."

"Until the curse broke. But why didn't you travel somewhere after that?" the blonde pressed with genuine curiosity lacing her voice.

"I always got a little busy with unfortunate tricks of fate, if you haven't noticed," Regina said, but it lacked any sign of snap, it was pure playfulness. Something that had slipped into their daily routines without even noticing that.

"That's too bad, there's so much to see! I'll show you the world. And Henry too…" Emma added quickly, sentimentally smiling at the ground and not noticing the look of love which Regina sent her way.

"I'm sure he would love that," Regina said, not daring to dance on the thin ice, so she moved to the safe place that bonded them. Henry.

"Here we are," Emma motioned with her hand to the building on the right.

"Art Gallery?" Regina asked and turned to Emma. "I wouldn't guess you're an artistic type?"

"Not much, but I figured you would be. And this gallery is actually pretty nice and I loved it." Emma smiled with a shrug and opened the door for Regina, who nodded a thank you her way.

They walked to the cash desk, Emma picking up her pace to be there before Regina.

"Hello, two tickets please," she smiled at the woman behind the desk.

"It will be 50 dollars please," the cashier said and handed Emma the tickets.

Regina was by Emma's side, already opening her wallet, when the blonde put her hand over hers and pushed the wallet back closed.

"Let me pay for my ticket at least," Regina argued with a slight shake of her head that made her hair bounce.

"No, I'm inviting you." Emma said resolutely and fished the money out of her jeans pocket and handed them to the lady. "Thank you."

"Thank you, and here's a plan of this gallery. Enjoy your visit." the cashier wished them with professional smile and waved her hand towards the direction of the tour start.

"Let me just-" Regina started pulling out the money out of her wallet again, but Emma turned to her with resolute expression on her face.

"Don't. Regina, please, just enjoy it here, and stop." Emma said and added a little eye-roll as Regina hesitantly put her wallet back into her purse.

"Thank you." Regina smiled and without asking took the plan from Emma's hands, looking into it.

"What are you looking for?" Emma asked with curious arch of an eyebrow.

"Nothing in particular, I was just curious about the exhibitions." Regina answered nonchalantly and folded the plan, handing it back to Emma.

"Nope, you can carry it," Emma took a step back, raising her hands with a grin. "I know it here."

"Oh, then you can be my guide, Miss Swan. Introduce me the period of the first room, dear," Regina teased with a smirk.

"Thank you for your attention, I would like to introduce you our first exhibition, The Modern Arts of our fucked-up present, the art nobody understands," Emma grinned, overdramatically waving her arms in motions around the room, making Regina laugh.

Operation Make Her Laugh was a success too.

* * *

They were standing side by side, their arms actually brushing against each other, in front of a giant abstract painting. They had been standing there for a while, because they quickly fell into a pattern of commenting every painting they stopped in front of, trying to find the sense behind every abstract splatter across the canvas. But they couldn't quite get this one.

"That's definitely a penis." Emma said very calmly, mastering a voice of a professional. Regina burst out in muffled laughter, covering her mouth with her hand and lowered her head, her shoulders shaking. Emma joined her with uncontrollable laughter and people started turning around in no time. But they didn't care. The warmth and happiness felt like fireworks setting off in their chests and it felt right.

They were walking down the street in a slow pace, the conversation flowing naturally. Emma noticed Regina tightening her jacket around her form and hiding her hands in her sleeves.

"We're nearly there. I can't wait for a big cup of coffee." Emma admitted, feeling a bit cold herself.

"Me too, the weather has gone crazy…" Regina huffed, but smiled when Emma looked at her.

"We're here," Emma pointed to the sign and opened the door for Regina who gladly walked in. There was a long queue and Regina sighed in frustration. Emma threw a questioning gaze her way.

"I will use the bathroom first, I'll be right back, apparently before anybody of these peasants move," Regina hissed, but it didn't sound like a threat of Evil Queen at all. It was a joke.

* * *

"Regina!" Emma called out from one booth at the wall. Regina looked in confusion at the long queue and then back at Emma, and raised her eyebrow as she made her way to their table.

"You took quite a time," Emma grinned and pushed a cup across the table desk to Regina.

"Most of the women of Boston had a meeting at the bathroom," Regina's voice dripped with sarcasm and slight annoyance, but when she heard Emma chuckle, a smile tugged at her lips. She wrapped her cold fingers around the cup. "What did you buy me?"

"Well, I wasn't really sure what to order for you, but I figured out that one can't really go wrong with ordering anything with apples for you, so Caramel Apple Frappuccino. With Cinnamon." Emma smiled and watched Regina smell the coffee and take a sip.

"Mmhmm, it's good. What do you have?" Regina asked over the rim of the cup, finally feeling warmer.

"Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino." Emma answered, already knowing that Regina would make a comment about that.

"Did they run out of cocoa?" Regina didn't disappoint and smirked. "Can I have a taste?"

Emma was surprised by that question and her eyes widened. "Sure."

She watched as Regina brought the cup to her lips and took a sip, leaving a faint print of red lipstick on it. She closed her eyes for a moment before sliding the cup back to Emma. "Mine's better."

"No it's not." Emma defended her coffee passionately.

"Try mine." Regina pushed hers into Emma's hand and watched as the blonde drank it, pouted and gave the cup back to her.

"I'm still with my previous statement. Mine's better. More cinnamon." Emma said resolutely and sipped hers again.

"That's why mine's better." Regina said, barely supressing grin when she saw Emma's offended reaction.

"You hold a grudge against cinnamon only because of our early years and you know it." She shot back with a smirk Regina mirrored.

"Maybe." The brunette allowed and dropped her gaze from Emma's face to her cup. "Why do you have your cup signed?"

"That's just a thing they do at Starbucks." Emma shrugged and her eyes flicked to Regina's cup for a split of second.

"Oh." Regina nodded in understanding and turned her cup in her hands. "A crown above my name? Really?"

"Couldn't resist?" Emma asked before breaking into a chuckle over Regina's reaction. "Sorry."

A playful conversation was flowing between them with just little silences for a while when they sipped their coffees and sneaked occasional glances at each other.

* * *

They stopped at 108 Mifflin Street. Emma turned off the engine and turned to Regina at the passenger's seat.

"Thank you for today… I've wanted to go on a date to a museum and a coffee shop since I landed in this world." Regina said with a smile and little tilt of her head, which made a few strands of her hair bounce in the air.

"W-what?" Emma asked, her lips parting in surprise. "Is that what you thought it was?"

Regina's expression fell instantly and she turned away, gaze dropping to the ground.

"No, I mean – you would go on a date with me?" Emma quickly added and hesitantly reached out with her hand, taking Regina's into hers.

"Of course I would go on another one, today's exceeded expectations." Regina teased with a smirk, her eyes finding Emma's again.

"But—we're looking for the Author to give you love and happy ending-" Emma babbled in confusion, with only a slight blush creeping into her cheeks, but Regina was so close that she could see it.  
"Maybe I want to choose for myself." Regina finally leaned in and captured Emma's lips in a sweet kiss. When she pulled away, she squeezed Emma's hand and then opened the door.

"Goodnight dear." she said with one last look at Emma before stepping out of the Bug.  
"Goodnight Regina." Emma smiled and brushed her fingers along her lips, still feeling the kiss hovering across them as a ghost. And she stayed until she saw Regina closing the front door behind herself.

 _Goodnight._


End file.
